Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. The king there only had one leg and one eye, but he was very intelligent and kind. Everyone in his kingdom lived a happy and a healthy life because of their king. One day, the king was walking through the palace hallway which had the portraits of his ancestors. Seeing them, he thought that one day his children will walk in the same hallway and remember all the ancestors through these portraits.
But, the king did not have his portrait painted. Due to his physical disabilities, he wasn’t sure how his painting would turn out. So he invited many famous painters from his and other kingdoms to the court. The king then announced that he wants a beautiful portrait made of himself to be placed in the palace. Any painter who can carry out this should come forward. He will be rewarded based on how the painting turns up.
All of the painters began to think that the king only has one leg and one eye. How can his picture be made very beautiful? It is not possible and if the picture does not turn out to look beautiful, then the king will get angry and punish them. So, one by one, all of them started to make excuses and politely declined to make a painting of the king.
But one painter raised his hand and said, “I will make a very beautiful portrait of you, which you will surely like.”
The king became happy hearing that and the other painters too got curious. The king gave him the permission and the painter began work on the portrait. He then filled the drawing with paints. Finally, after a long time, the portrait was ready!
All the courtiers, other painters were curious and nervous thinking, “How can the painter make the king’s portrait beautiful because the king is physically disabled? What if the king didn’t like the painting and gets angry?”
But when the painter unveiled the portrait, everyone in the court, including the king, were left stunned.
The painter made a portrait in which the king was sitting on the horse, with one leg showing, holding his bow and aiming the arrow with one eye closed. The king was very pleased to see that the painter had not only made a beautiful portrait but a clever one. The king gave him a big reward.
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Albert Einstein was a genius ahead of his time and he had Asperger’s Syndrome. People who have Asperger’s Syndrome have similar characteristics as those with Autism (brain development disorder with restrictions to behaviour and communication performance), but function on a higher linguistic and cognitive process.
Image courtesy: National Postal Museum, USA – Celebrating People with Disabilities through postage stamps.